Thermally Assisted Supersolidity in a Dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensate
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Abstract
Supersolidity in a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), which is the coexistence of crystalline density modulation and global phase coherence, emerges from the interplay of contact interactions, long-range dipole-dipole forces, and quantum fluctuations. Although realized experimentally, stabilizing this phase at zero temperature often requires high peak densities. Here we chart the finite-temperature phase behavior of a harmonically trapped dipolar BEC using an extended mean-field framework that incorporates both quantum (Lee-Huang-Yang) and thermal fluctuation effects. We find that finite temperature can act constructively: it shifts the supersolid phase boundary toward larger scattering lengths, lowers the density threshold for the onset of supersolidity, and broadens the stability window of modulated phases. Real-time simulations reveal temperature-driven pathways (crystallization upon heating and melting upon cooling) demonstrating the dynamical accessibility and path dependence of supersolid order. Moreover, moderate thermal fluctuations stabilize single-droplet states that are unstable at zero temperature, expanding the experimentally accessible parameter space. These results identify temperature as a key control parameter for engineering and stabilizing supersolid phases, offering realistic routes for their observation and control in dipolar quantum gases.